Rebuilding the Alliance

Even the most sober-spirited could not help but feel a thrill seeing the long line of people on the steps of Columbia University’s Low Library on October 3, trying to get into the opening session of a “Teach-In with the Labor Movement.” Some 1,300 students, unionists, and teachers crammed Low’s rotunda and nearby rooms while hundreds more stood by outdoor loudspeakers to hear AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Betty Friedan, Richard Rorty, Cornel West, Eric Foner, and Patricia Williams e...